Flight of the Conchords are Bret McKenzie and Jermaine Clement BBC

You’re huge in the States – packed shows, Flight of the Conchords blackjack tables in Vegas... Where did it all start?

Jemaine: We were in this sort of improv show with a big group of people and Bret was so funny. He was playing this New York ­character who could fly. You have to ask him to do it.

Bret: I think it was along the lines of the old gag, “I just flew in from Pittsburgh and, boy, are my arms tired”.

When did you think, “Hey, this might take off?”

B: I guess when we first started. We played Thursday nights in Wellington, and we had a group of fans that was pretty much five girls, maybe one dude, and they came every week. They’d scream and shout as though we were a famous band.

J: Somehow these five people, they inspired us. We were like: “We’ve got it man. These five people love it.”

B: “If they like it...”

J: “...what’s it going to be like in America?”

Bret, do you ever worry about Jemaine’s lyrics, like when he said he wanted to put a wig on you and pretend you were a lady?

B: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

J: Bret doesn’t like doing that song.

B: It’s really disappointing that that one’s become huge.

What’s the worst jumper you own, Bret?

B: The worst? The best, you mean.

J: The least best.

"Do you mean my animal jerseys? That first owl jersey I wore was actually my own. Then I got this penguin jersey and it’s sort of something like your grandmother would wear. It’s cool"

B: Do you mean my animal jerseys? That first owl jersey I wore was actually my own. Then I got this penguin jersey and it’s sort of something like your grandmother would wear. It’s cool.

Do you have a Mel-like ­superfan in real life?

B: Mel’s a mix of half a dozen fans we’ve had over the years.

J: A lot of her weirdest lines are direct quotes.

Doesn’t Bret have special fans that are into his ­performance as an elf in Lord of the Rings?

B: It’s very embarrassing. I was only in it for about five seconds.

Have you ever ended up back at a superfan’s house like in the show?

J: When we first came to LA we literally didn’t have enough cash to pay for a hotel for the whole time. So we had this fan, it was kind of complex, basically we ended up at her house...

B: Yeah, she said, “Well, what should we do?” and I said, “I don’t know” and she said, “Do you guys want to watch a movie?” I’m like, “OK” and then the only DVD she owns is Lord Of The Rings...

So which one of you guys gets the most ladies?

J: We’ve got one each.

Is that an improvement from before the show?

J: It’s the same as before! It’s stayed the same.

Is there any band style you haven’t parodied?

B: Gregorian chants. And acid jazz. We never got acid jazz.